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“Sindo! Vas!”

Vasili woke with a start, lying atop a pile of rubble with a jagged chunk of broken duracrete for a pillow. Looking out over the courtyard, he saw Cheka on their knees, their hands in the air thanks to stormtrooper rifles pointed in their direction. Though the deafening din of battle had grown quiet, he heard one sharp pop! as a death trooper executed a kneeling Cheka officer.

Vasili blinked dust out of his eyes. Turning slightly, he winced at the pain in his neck. Then he saw Major Regis clambering atop a pile of rubble, face covered in soot, his voice cracking as he cried out, “Sindo! Sindo!”

“She’s dead, sir,” said Vasili.

Regis’s attention snapped in Vasili’s direction, his eyes slitted as he peered through the cloud of dust. “Vas!” he said, then climbed toward him frantically. Regis tripped and nearly fell on top of him, then rolled a heavy stone away from the crook of Vasili’s arm. Vasili hissed in pain.

“You okay, Vas? Can you move?”

“Y-yeah,” said Vasili, flexing his fingers and shifting his weight. “Except… I can’t feel my leg! Oh, wait.” Vasili jerked his cybernetic leg free, and it stuttered and popped. “It’s just my fake leg. I’m fine. I think.”

“Vas, you said…” Regis swallowed with difficulty. “What happened?”

“It’s Sindo, sir. That fruity X-Wing was coming right for me and Luke. It got Luke, and it nearly got me, too, but Sindo flew right into it. Killed them both.”

“Maybe she got out, right before the impact!”

Vasili held Regis’s gaze and shook his head. “She flew right into it, sir. At that speed, it would be impossible, not unless she was behind the stick the whole time. She…”

Vasili took a deep breath as his throat tightened. Regis closed his eyes and turned away, hiding his face.

“M-maybe she did get out,” Vasili added, suddenly intensely uncomfortable. Desperate to shift his focus, he concentrated on sitting up.

“The Cheka forces have broken,” said Regis. “Officers are surrendering left and right. Same with the fleet. They say ships are turning and running, abandoning each other to get away from Coruscant. Did you know Viddu the Hutt got involved, too? Now he’s running, just like the rest of them. Our boys have a blockade set up overhead. Nobody gets in or out without Imperial say-so.”

Vasili swallowed, then choked on dust. “I guess that means… we won.”

Regis took a deep breath. “Vas. Why was Luke here? Why did he come here all of a sudden?”

Vasili glanced at the Major, but his gaze was still turned away. “Well, I… I shot Empress Organa! I saw her and Luke fighting, and I got her. I guess… I guess Luke, he, uh… he knew that that pink X-Wing was going to come after me. So he figured…” Vasili hesitated as he remembered the look of murderous rage deforming Luke’s features. He blinked. “I guess Luke figured he’d better come and get me out of the frying pan, after I pulled off a shot like that, sir.”

“Yeah,” Regis quickly agreed. “That’s what it was.”

Vasili looked out over the courtyard. The ground, composed of metal grating and pieces of junkyard steel, was full of holes and twisted metal where Cheka corpses lay like dolls abandoned at childhood’s end. Among the stormtroopers organizing prisoners, a team of medics gathered around the wounded. Vasili saw Birdy sitting propped up while a medic helped him out of his armor, and Han and Lando lay unconscious while Nurse Pilena looked over them. Chewbacca sat hunched over little Anakel while she slept.

Feeling someone’s attention on him, Vasili turned and saw a dark-haired child looking up at him. Ben, Anakel’s brother, stood with Artoo, who trilled endlessly, speaking to himself.

“Found someone, sir!” said a stormtrooper climbing over the rubble. “It’s Master Skywalker!”

* * *

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Luke was in the storage room of his childhood home. He could smell the bitter tang of lubing grease they had to use on the moisture vaporators . His family’s old X-34 landspeeder was parked in the dark alcove by the entryway, with the hood popped open and the little engine sitting on the worktable. It would have been hot, but a breeze was coming in through the window, where a bright beam of light shone. It was quiet, and he could not sense Uncle Owen or Aunt Beru.

He was startled when he realized a figure was standing at the window, a tall man silhouetted by the bright sunlight. The man had his back turned to him. Luke felt what could only be expert-level Force-cloaking suddenly relax, and then he felt surrounded by the man’s power. Still he did not turn. Luke approached, blinking against the light, and saw that he was a young man in a brown Jedi robe. The man rubbed his fingers across a layer of sand collecting at the open window. He examined his fingers, seeming amused by the layer of grit dirtying his hand. He smiled.

“I love this place,” said Anakin Skywalker. He finally turned to Luke. Despite his amused smile, Luke saw a deep well of sadness in his father’s blue eyes. Luke felt the same sting of bitter regret he had sensed when taking his father’s mask off eight years ago, when he had seen him as a wounded creature trapped within a metal shell that only extended his suffering. Even now, his father looked like a man hemmed in without options.

“Father?” said Luke. “Something terrible has happened. I had to confront Leia, and I…”

Anakin ignored him, focusing on rubbing the grit off his hands. “I always thought I had it all figured out, when I was young,” he said. “We think we know who the good guys are, and we spend so much time hating the bad guys. I used to hate Watto… a Toydarian who owned me, when I was young. I even had him killed. Did you know that? Just some poor fool scraping by on Tatooine.”

Anakin looked at his fingers again, looking dissatisfied that the dry layer of grime was still there. “We have it all figured out. Which would be nice, if we didn’t have to grow up, and then find out the galaxy isn’t as great or as simple as we thought. Compared to the life I ended up living, looking back, I can see I actually enjoyed working in Watto’s repair shop. I had a decent routine, opening up his shop early in the morning, and working on his droids. He was a pain, but he could be funny, too. I learned a lot about people, and aliens, listening to his banter. Maybe it wasn’t a great life, but it was decent.” With a knowing smile, he added, “Speaking of droids, how’s Threepio?”

“Father, please listen to me,” said Luke, forcing himself to speak through his rising fear. “I had to fight Leia. And then, I… father, she’s-”

“You did nothing wrong, Luke, if that’s what you’re thinking,” said Anakin, suddenly moving away from the window. “You risked your life time and again, rather than hurt her. And when some well-meaning soldier shot at her, and missed his mark completely, you weren’t the one who guided the bolt in her direction. You weren’t the one who ended her suffering. You weren’t…” Anakin’s gaze hardened, and he said, “You weren’t the one who was forced to kill his own daughter.”

Taken aback, Luke’s eyes narrowed with distrust. “Father? You…?”

“Please come with me, Luke.” Anakin gestured toward the door leading outside. “I’ve been very busy. And we have much to discuss.”

* * *

Regis knelt beside Luke’s body while a stormtrooper pulled broken chunks of duracrete away from him, revealing his bloodless face. Though his eyes were closed as if sleeping, his chest was badly burned, the dark flesh peeled away, revealing ribs. Regis moved as if meaning to check for a pulse, hesitated, then placed his hand on Luke’s forehead. He did not have to check for a pulse to know that Luke was gone.

“So he really is…”

“AaaAaaughaaa!”

Regis fell over as Chewbacca clambered up to Luke, the Wookiee’s fangs bared in mourning. Regis turned away, unable to stand the sight of such bare emotion, then moved to sit near Luke’s head, wondering if anything more could be lost, if anything else could be taken away. Nurse Pilena made her way up the pile of rubble, then took Vasili’s arm as he struggled with his malfunctioning leg.

“They say he fought the Empress hand-to-hand,” said the stormtrooper. “And he killed those Stralucitor, too! Is that true, sir?”

Regis nodded, but could not respond. He felt distracted, bothered by a strange thought.

“He did all that,” said Vasili, “and I’d be dead, too, if Luke hadn’t jumped up here and saved me!”

“Incredible,” said the stormtrooper, shaking his head.

“What outfit you with?” said Vasili.

“I serve under Grand Moff Sheckil, sir. Can’t say I ever thought I’d be fighting alongside anyone from Praji’s fleet, but…” Again the stormtrooper shook his head, overwhelmed by the events of the day.

“It’s not right,” said Regis.

“What’s that, sir?”

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“Something’s… something’s not right.”

“You’re right there, sir,” said Vasili. “Lot of good people died today.”

“No, it’s…” Regis stopped. Feeling foolish, he looked over Luke’s body. He was dead, that much was certain. Still, he could not shake the feeling that he was wrong. “Couldn’t we… I mean, is there any way to give him… you know, cybernetic-”

“It’s too late for that, sir,” said the stormtrooper. “Brain death has already occurred. And besides, there’s not enough of him left to replace.”

“I don’t know,” Regis muttered, shaking his head. “I just can’t shake it. This feeling. I don’t know.”

“Hey! Hey!”

“Ben!” Nurse Pilena shouted. “Stay down there! You could fall if you go climbing around on-”

“I know how we can help him!” said Ben, climbing over the rubble with surprising grace. “I saw a place, when me and Anakel were in the hospital! I know what we can do!”

“Kid, be careful, alright?” said Vasili, pushing away from Pilena and scooping up Ben. Ben shrieked and kicked, but Vasili held him tight. “Come on, now. You can get hurt up here! Let’s go down, we’ll go see your sister. Huh? How about that?”

“No! No! No-o-o-o!”

“Where, kid?” said Regis, suddenly standing.

Ben continued screaming and kicking against Vasili.

“Shut up, you little brat!” Regis roared. Everyone froze and turned to watch as Regis marched up to Ben. “Quit crying, and act like a man! Now, tell me what you’re talking about!”

Ben froze, glaring at Regis. “It’s where they fixed my grandfather.”

“You mean… Darth Vader?”

Unable to explain how he knew such a thing, Ben clamped his mouth shut. Regis returned his glare, feeling like a fool. Finally he nodded, then turned to the others. “Pick up Luke. Carry him! We’re going to the medical facility.”

“What?” said Vasili. “Sir, he’s… I mean…”

Chewbacca roared. Nurse Pilena and two stormtroopers scurried away, and the big Wookiee leaned over and scooped Luke’s broken body into his arms.

Regis turned to Ben. “Kid, take us to this place you’re talking about. But if you’re wasting my time…” Regis pointed at Ben, then pointed to the tall dome of the medical facility hanging overhead. “If you’re lying, you’re goin’ out the top floor window.”

* * *

As soon as Anakin led Luke through the doorway, the sand-covered expanse of Tatooine shifted into one of verdant trees overhanging a lake as still and clear as glass. They approached the winding steps of a white marble terrace glinting in the orange light of the setting sun.

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“I wish you could have seen Naboo as it was, just like this,” said Anakin. “Back before it was filled with strip malls and rough laborers. This was where your mother and I were married in secret, against the rules of the Jedi Order.”

Though Luke had a thousand questions, the mention of his mother caused his heart to leap. “What was my mother like?” he said, nearly catching his foot on the stone stairs.

“Well, she was a lot like you, Luke. She was kind, and always thought the best of everyone, as long as they let her. She always put others first. She…”

Reaching the center of the terrace, Anakin stopped, his mood suddenly darkening. Feeling as if he was chasing his father, Luke took the opportunity to move ahead of him, then stopped and turned to look up at him.

“Father, tell me what this is about.”

Anakin forced a tight smile, then nodded. “Luke, from my new perspective, I can tell that someone has been influencing events. Something more sinister, and more patient, than the Sith ever were. Leia fell under the sway of this dark power, and it gave her abilities that should have taken years - or even lifetimes - to master. And it wasn’t just her. Too many people have fallen under the sway of this power. Humans have always been the most active force in the galaxy. We’re always ready for some new project, always ready to explore, or meet a new race, or fight. Now we do nothing but give up ground, and wallow in guilt. It’s not natural, Luke.”

“I feel it too, father.”

Anakin nodded. “I’m glad you do, Luke. Yoda and Obi-Wan can’t see it. And Qui-Gon is remaining neutral. You haven’t seen me in years because I’ve been focusing on this problem. I’ve done everything I can do on my own, but now my power is all used up.”

“What do you mean?” said Luke, fearing that he would lose his father all over again.

“I helped the twins as much as I could. It’s not easy to affect the physical world from this place, especially with the Stralucitor working against me. I don’t think even Grand Master Yoda could have done that! But I was guiding events long before the twins were facing hybridization. When the Cheka attacked Artoo and his team, I got Artoo into the hands of someone who could get him to you.”

“You mean Regis?”

Anakin nodded. “It was surprisingly easy. He would never admit it himself, but he called out to the Force, when he was digging through trash on Tatooine. His prayer for a life of meaning is what started it all. He’s a good soldier, with some Force sensitivity. He was able to get Artoo to you, and from there, bring you back to the people who need you. Your people.”

“Father, why didn’t Yoda or Obi-Wan tell me you were doing this?”

“Because they think I’m seeing things that aren’t there, patterns that only exist in my mind. They think the current struggles of the human race are just a continuation of the fight to survive. Endless wars among the stars, from which we need to detach ourselves. But where they see chaos, I see order. Something is influencing our people to destroy themselves, Luke, and I wouldn’t stand by and let it happen.”

“Is it the dark side? A new Sith order?”

“It’s something beyond the dark side and the light side of the Force. An “other” side of the Force. But I could only do so much, Luke. My time is over. Now, I need someone to complete my work.”

* * *

“You want to do what?” said Nurse Pilena.

Major Regis and Nurse Pilena stood in the black surgery room of the abandoned upper reaches of the New Republic Medical Facility, where decommissioned droids were powering up one after another. Chewbacca sat leaning against the steel table where he had placed Luke’s body.

Regis found a squat, black droid near the back of the room. Unsure of its purpose, he flipped its activation switch. Turning to look for more droids, he could not help but notice the grotesque image of nearly a dozen droids all twitching and stuttering.

“We’ll put a new heart in him,” said Regis. “A cybernetic model. And new lungs, if we have to. New guts, whatever. I don’t care!”

Pilena gritted her teeth. Before she could respond, a tall, spider-like DD-13 cybernetic surgical droid said, “We have - we - we have a complete stock of cyb-cyb-cybernetic implants, but they are slated for use by high-ranking Im-Im-Imperial officers.”

Regis approached the droid, squaring his shoulders. “You’re a little behind the times, bud, but believe me, nobody outranks this man, not by anyone’s standard. He’s the son of Darth Vader.”

“Ah! Indeed!” said the droid. “His esteemed father has already hand-selected cybernetic components for this one’s personal use, should they be necessary after their meeting on Cloud City.”

“Good! That’s… that’s great!” said Regis. Suddenly startled by movement over his shoulder, he turned and saw another DD-13 hovering over Luke, looking like a spider stalking its prey.

“Legs no good, shattered,” said the second DD-13. “One arm crushed. Jaw broken. Spinal cord intact. Heart inoperable. Massive trauma to the torso. Massive trauma to-”

“I’ll let you get to it,” said Regis, stepping away from the table.

“Yes of course,” said the DD-13. “Not a problem. Ah, but one more thing, sir.”

“What’s that?”

“This man is dead. We cannot fix him.”

“You can fix him. You will fix him. Don’t worry about whether he’s alive or dead. Just do what you can!”

The aged Imperial droids all exchanged glances.

“Very well,” said the first DD-13. “We will do as asked. Please do not di-di-disintegrate us. But - if you mean to make this man presentable for his fune-fune-funeral, he will need an exoskeletal structure. To hold his body to-to-together.”

Regis sighed in frustration, then looked around. Finally struck by an idea, he said, “Use my armor. It’s plastoid. Reshape it, however you need to!”

* * *

Luke stood with Anakin atop the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, just as it was three decades ago. The soft blue haze of an early twilight cast a soft glow around the hard lines of tall spires stretching as far as the eye could see, and the air was filled with the regular grid pattern of twinkling lights of air traffic.

“I can see a lot, Luke, but I can’t see everything,” said Anakin. “I gave you as much help as I could in this fight, but I didn’t know how everything would go. As for those death troopers… well, now that they’ve murdered almost everyone in the Senate, the entire galaxy will declare war upon us. The war that humans have been trying to ignore for so long is going to kick in the front door.”

“What can we do, father?”

Anakin was unable to hide his regret as he turned to Luke. “You’ll have to go it alone from here on out, my son. I can’t feel Padme or Leia in the Force, and the other Jedi who have passed on are unable to see the ugly truth for what it is. I wish I could help you. I held too tightly to my life, and I let fear manipulate me. So I failed. You’ll have to be perfectly selfless, Luke, if you mean to bring humanity together. You’ll have to be strong, to do what I could not.”

“Me? But, father…” Luke held his chest, still feeling the searing pain of the blaster bolt that ended his life.

Anakin reached out, interrupting Luke by putting a hand on his arm. “Put aside your fears, and your doubts. Put aside everything that doesn’t help the people around you. They need you, Luke. They need someone who can use the Force, and be used by the Force, in a way that they never could. You think you’re dead, Luke? No. You only put yourself to sleep. Just as you’ve been asleep all these years...”

Anakin faded, and the ancient city of Coruscant skipped and shifted. Luke reached out for his father, but felt only a gentle breeze.

“The choice is yours, Luke. You can go back, if you’re willing. If you wake up from the Force trance that you’ve placed upon yourself, you can become a servant for all of humanity. A perfect being through which the Force itself speaks…”

* * *

Luke woke, not with a sudden intake of breath, but by feeling his lungs expand outside of his control. He blinked in a bright beam of light shining in through the window. He was in a bright, white room. He tried to turn away from the sunlight, but felt his neck constricted by something like a hard collar. He moved to adjust his position in bed, then his body was racked by searing pain.

“Luke? Luke, you’re alive!”

Luke forced his eyes open, and saw Regis staring down at him, his mouth hanging open in surprise. Luke tried to speak, but his mouth was dry, and his throat burned.

“Luke, just relax. You’re okay. You’re okay, Luke. You’re with friends! Just… just wait right there, I’ll be back!”

Regis started to move, then turned back to Luke, adding, “I knew you weren’t gonna leave us, Luke.”

Regis darted from view. Though Luke wanted to sleep more, he could hear Regis shouting in the distance.

“Hey! He’s alive! Luke’s alive!”

Confused and groggy, Luke lifted his hand, ignoring the stiffness and sharp pain in his elbow and shoulder. He looked at his hand. He blinked, unable to understand what he was looking at. He flexed his fingers. His arm and hand worked, but they were different.

His arm was encased in white plastoid armor, gleaming brightly in the light. His elbow and the joints were black, soft leather, hissing under the pressure of movement. As he forced his hand into a fist, the white plastoid fingers clicked upon contact, like a plastic robot testing its new form. His chest rose and fell, hissing with each breath as a machine breathed for him.